The Samsung Galaxy Ring was sprung on us at the end of the Samsung Unpacked event at the beginning of the year. It was merely teased though, but it was quite a pleasant surprise because I had personally heard nothing about its existence prior to that moment.
The second Samsung Unpacked event happened around the midpoint of the year, bringing the company’s new foldables and wearables — the Galaxy Ring included. However, we’ve just learned something new about it. If it breaks, it can’t be fixed.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring Can’t Be Opened Up Without Effectively Destroying It
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is the first major player in a wearable segment that has been around for quite some time. As established as Oura is in the space, the company is hardly a household name, unlike Samsung. This will likely help furnish the growth of the segment, but before we get to that point, let’s talk about one fatal flaw that the Samsung Galaxy Ring has.
It’s been discovered, through a teardown of the latest smart ring in town, that the Samsung Galaxy Ring simply can’t be repaired. Thanks to a teardown from iFixit, it was deemed to be “unrepairable”. The team at iFixit discovered that opening the device, such as when removing and replacing the battery, effectively destroyed it. So even if you can get into it, you can’t do anything with what is left.
This Means The Smart Ring Will Be A Replacement-Only Device
This doesn’t seem to be a rarity in the smart ring space either, as it seems that the Oura Ring is similarly unrepairable and you’ll be forced to buy a new one when it gets to the point that your battery doesn’t hold a charge like it used to.
Yep, that means that your $399 smart ring will have to be thrown in the trash, and at the very end of the day, it is going to end up in a landfill. What a way to strive to reduce e-waste, am I right? No wonder iFixit divorced Samsung.
Could This Be A Form Of Intentional Obsolescence?
I’m thinking: could this be a way to force eventual upgrades? Smartwatches have screens and obvious designs, so it is a little easier to add new features and give people a reason to upgrade. But a smart ring is a plain ring with sensors. Beyond adding some drastic new sensor tech, I can hardly see people rushing to get next year’s Galaxy Ring if they already have one. A replacement-only smart ring forces their hands at some point though.
This Is Bad Timing; Comes A Day After The Pixel Watch 3 Was Confirmed To Be Similarly Unrepairable
Conspiracy theories aside, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is relatively small, so if I want to play devil’s advocate, I can forgive it for being unrepairable. As long as Samsung figures a way to greatly subsidize necessary replacements, most people will be fine with it.
However, just yesterday, we discovered that the brand-new Google Pixel Watch 3 is also unrepairable. In fact, there hasn’t been a single repairable Pixel Watch. If your battery dies, you’ll need to get a replacement. It’s hard to excuse that, especially in what is a much larger device.
As much as these manufacturers yap about sustainability at the very end of each of their keynotes, a lot of their actions are unfortunately not speaking louder than their words.
